The fields of study of geography They can be classified into geomorphological, hydrographic elements, climatological elements, biological elements and human elements. Likewise, geography is responsible for the study of the interaction between human beings and the environment..
Geography is a science that is responsible for the study, description and interpretation of the elements that make up planet Earth, both physical (natural areas and regions, variations in landscape, natural phenomena, geographical facts, aquatic bodies , among others) as biological (fauna and flora).
As can be seen, geography encompasses various fields of study, including geomorphological elements (continental and marine landforms and relief), hydrographic elements (such as the distribution of water bodies), climatic elements, biological or biotic elements (fauna and flora) and human elements (such as political organization, economy and demography).
In this sense, the fields of study of geography overlap with the areas of study of other sciences, such as biology, geology, geomorphology, hydrology and medicine, and even with human sciences such as history, politics and science. anthropology.
Geomorphological elements refer to relief, that is, to the forms that the surface of planet Earth can present (both the visible surface on the continents and that found under the seas and oceans).
In this sense, geography is responsible for studying the various forms of land relief and underwater relief. Among the forms of land relief, the mountains, plains, plateaus and plateaus stand out..
Other landform formations are mountain ranges, mountains, volcanoes, valleys and depressions..
Regarding the underwater relief, the marine trench, the continental shelf (which is the part of the continents that is submerged in the oceans), the abyssal plains and the oceanic ridge (such as the mid-Atlantic ridge) stand out..
The physical elements are made up of bodies of fresh and salt water, which is known as the “hydrosphere”. The hydrosphere constitutes three-quarters of the total surface of the planet.
Freshwater bodies are found within continents and can be surface or underground.
Among the superficial ones, the rivers, lakes, lagoons and glaciers stand out. For their part, underground bodies are pockets of water and currents.
Rivers are streams of continuous flow that originate from groundwater or the overflow of other bodies of fresh water. Generally, they flow into the sea, although they can also flow into lakes or feed other rivers.
Lakes are bodies of water at rest found in depressions on the earth's surface. If the extension of the lakes is small, then it is considered a lagoon.
Glaciers are accumulations of frozen fresh water masses. Glaciers make up 95% of the fresh water on planet Earth and occupy 10% of its surface. They are found in areas of perpetual snow.
About 97% of the water on the planet is salty. The bodies of salt water are seas and oceans. Seas are smaller than oceans and are close to continents.
The oceans are vast and on planet Earth there are five: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Antarctic Glacial Ocean and the Arctic Ocean..
The climatological elements refer to the climate, which is defined as the routine succession of an atmospheric time. The main elements of this group are temperature, atmospheric pressure and precipitation..
Temperature is the degree of heat present in the atmospheric layer. This is affected by altitude (the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature), the latitude (the closer you are to the Equator, the higher the temperature), among others..
Atmospheric pressure is the weight that the atmosphere exerts on a point on the earth's surface.
Precipitation is understood as the fall of water from the atmosphere. When it comes to falling water in a solid state, it is called hail; if the state of the water when falling is semi-solid, it is snow; and if the water falls in a liquid state, then it is rain.
Biological elements are divided into vegetation and fauna.
Vegetation is the set of plant species found in an area. According to the general characteristics of this set of species, we can speak of four types of vegetation: forests (made up of large trees), bushes (made up of shrubs), meadows and grasslands (made up of herbs and plants that do not exceed 90 cm) and xerophytic vegetation (composed of thorny shrubs, with few leaves, typical of the desert).
Fauna is the group of animals that occupy a specific territory. It can be classified in terrestrial and aquatic.
As explained above, geography is in charge of studying the interaction between the human being and the environment in which it develops.
Among the human elements that are part of the fields of study of geography, the political organization, the geopolitical organization and the economic organization stand out..
Societies are organized into entities called States, which are political and social associations whose purpose is to regulate the functioning of society, guarantee security and establish relations with other States..
Among the forms of political organization, centralism, federalism and central-federalism stand out..
States are projected within a geographic space; this projection is known as geopolitics.
In order to survive, all societies must establish an economic system that consists of factors of production (companies), consumers (the family is the consuming unit par excellence) and markets (which establish a relationship between producers and consumers).
Yet No Comments